


The Girl With The Axe

by pleasanthell



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-06
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2018-01-07 18:57:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1123230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pleasanthell/pseuds/pleasanthell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the revolution, Johanna returns home to the former District 7.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Girl With The Axe

The revolution was all but over. There was nothing left for her to do. Johanna had return to District 7 with little more than a uniform, a gun, and a bag of supplies. From what she heard about the uprising in 7 she wasn’t expecting to find much there.

As they landed, Johanna was surprised to find the former District 7 back in operation. People were milling around. In the distance she could hear the sound of chainsaws and the hum of the mills. She smiled knowing that the people of 7 were resilient beyond anything anyone else could have hoped for.

Peeta and Katniss waved to her as the heliplane took off. They was bound for District 12 to do much the same thing Johanna was doing. They were going home to…move on she guessed.

Johanna walked through the town with her bag over her back. Johanna inhaled deeply, taking in the tall trees that meant she was home. A few people said hi to her. A few stopped her and thanked her for everything she had done for them. Apparently District 12 wasn’t the only place hit hard when the revolution started. There were apparently bombs and mass casualties. Johanna made a run through the mill district and saw some of the buildings were still misshapen while others had new metal on them from the repairs.

She managed to escape the praise of the people who knew she played a huge part in the rescue of Katniss which led to the uprisings. She kept her head down as she walked back to the Victor’s Village, making sure not to look into the windows of the publishing building. She only chanced a glance at the building to make sure it was intact. It didn’t look like anything had happened to it during the uprisings so Johanna kept walking home.

Of course, Victor’s Village was never really home. When she arrived, it was like no one wanted to go into the formerly sacred neighborhood. Maybe it was habit or maybe it was that no one wanted anything to do with the Hunger Games again.

Johanna heaved open the door that she never locked and closed it behind her. She paused at the door for a listen. Her house was silent. Just the way it had always been. Johanna dropped her bag by the door and made her way to the kitchen. She found her kitchen fully stocked and a large bag of coins on the counter. Plutarch had promised that the Hunger Games winnings would keep coming to their houses because they had actually earned them more times over than anyone could imagine.

Johanna grabbed an apple and the bag of coins. She trudged up the stairs to her bedroom. She knew no one had been in her house. Some people were scared of her and the ones who weren’t respected her. It used to be because she could hold her own in a game arena. Now they respected her because she was a leader of the revolution.

She opened her closet door and tossed the coin bag into the closet. It made a loud clinking noise, landing on top of the other ones. She never had much use for money. She had taken a hobby during her downtime. It was time consuming and she didn’t have time to spend all her money. Or even part of it. She’s sure that sometime after she dies, when they decide to bulldoze the Victor’s Village, someone will find a closet full of coins that she never spent.

Johanna stripped off the District 13 uniform and pulled on some of her old pants. They were kind of loose, but she didn’t mind. Then she put on a warm shirt. She went downstairs and started a fire in her fireplace. It was easy and she was good at it. She mixed different kinds of wood from her fireplace stash by the back door to create a pleasant smell the permeated the house.

She ate the apple and watched the fire blaze from the comfort of her couch. So much had happened and now that it was all over, she was left alone to wallow in the misery that the revolution distracted her from.

When she told Katniss about how she didn’t have anyone left that she loved, Katniss took it to mean that the Capital had killed everyone that she loved. The Capital had taken everyone she loved, but they didn’t kill everyone she loved.

Johanna rightly blamed the Capital for the murders of both of her parents. Her mother died in childbirth. It was a time of unrest in District 7 so the Capital was punishing them by pinching off their supplies. That included food and medical supplies. All the doctors had been moved because of some fake emergency and the medical supplies had been almost run dry. Her mother didn’t stand a chance.

Then after she won her games, Snow wanted to auction Johanna off to the highest bidders. It was unreal how much someone would pay for a night with a Victor. When Johanna refused, a logging accident claimed her father’s life. Johanna knew Snow was behind it.

Although most people thought she was cold and heartless, an unlovable hermit, someone had found their way through her barriers. Johanna fell in love with someone who never judged her or was frightened of her. Johanna met her at the market. Johanna was trying to get rid of some coin and she was making deliveries. She worked at the publishing building. Her hands were stained with ink, but her smile was pure. Their eyes met and Johanna became speechless for the first time in her life. She handed Johanna a book right away and didn’t expect any money for it. She just kept on making her deliveries.

So Johanna went home with the book. She didn’t get much of an education because even when she was small, she would have rather spent time with her father in the forest than a classroom. So Johanna became frustrated with the book early on. It was too dense for her liking. The words were long and flowery. The next day Johanna hung around outside the publishing building. When the girl saw her again, she walked right up to Johanna. She asked if Johanna liked the book with her pleasant smile.

Johanna was embarrassed for some reason. She didn’t understand the book. The words were too complex. She shoved the book at the girl and mumbled that she hated it. Somehow the girl saw through her completely. She just smiled back. “Thank you for returning this to me.” The girl tucked the satchel by her side and closed the bag, “I would get into a lot of trouble if this were to get into the wrong hands.”

“What do you mean?” Johanna asked.

The girl looked around and gestured down the trail toward the Victor’s Village, “May I walk you home?”

No one had ever asked Johanna that so she agreed and on the way the girl explained that the Capital only allowed certain things to be printed. But one day she had found a secret room full of books that had been banned. There were only one copy of each, but some were accompanied by printing plates. She took to reading the books after work, finding out why the Capital banned them. They were dangerous to the Capital. If the people started reading books like the ones that were hidden away, they would know that what the Capital was doing was wrong. They would know the freedom of nod seeing President Snow whenever the Capital deemed it was time to remind the people who was in charge. They would know the evil of the Hunger Games.

Johanna had known first-hand the evil of the Hunger Games. The girl spoke with such conviction and a fire in her blue eyes that Johanna knew the books were important to her. Johanna apologized for saying that she hated the book. She confessed that she hadn’t read it. When they got to the Victor’s Village, they stopped in front of the gates and stood facing each other.

The girl smiled kindly at Johanna. She told Johanna she could do great things if she were so inclined. Johanna didn’t know what she was talking about. She was just a Victor living alone with night terrors and so much anger she didn’t know how to function properly. The girl just smiled, kissed Johanna’s cheek, and told her if she wanted to take another crack at the book she knew where to find her.

Johanna showed up at the publishing building the next day and asked the girl to walk her home. The girl told Johanna about the books and how they could open so many minds. That was why the girl went to the market to give the books to people who asked for them. The owner of the building found her in the secret room one day. She was reading and he explained to her the importance of the books. Together, they started printing the books again, trying to open minds to their oppression.

Johanna confessed to her new friend why she hadn’t read the book. The girl didn’t look at her with pity. She just offered to help her. Johanna decided to accept the help, but only if the girl told Johanna her name. The girl smiled shyly, “Emma.”

Emma came to Johanna’s house after work each day. They sat together on the couch, while Johanna read the books aloud and Emma occasionally helped. Emma would sew Johanna’s torn clothes sometimes while Johanna read. Johanna wasn’t good with small things. Needles and thread would frustrate her to no end while axes and hammers were just like extensions of herself. Her dad would always sew her clothes when they became torn. It was just another reminder to Johanna how helpless she actually was.

Johanna told Emma things she’d never told anyone. Johanna fixed the roof of Emma’s family’s house because the family worked too much no one had the time to get around to it.

It was cold outside when Emma first kissed her. Johanna knew her feeling for Emma were deep and overwhelming and when Emma kissed her it was like being free.

They spent every free moment together. When Johanna would go to the Capital for some event or appearance, Emma would be at her house when she returned with a warm meal and all the affection Johanna craved while she was gone.

Then the 72nd Hunger Games came. Johanna always dreaded the games because she was still always reliving her own. She had woken Emma up many times during the night when she had nightmares, but Emma would always kiss away the memories and read to her until Johanna fell back asleep.

On the day of the reaping, Johanna ate some soup and trudged to the square. Emma promised to meet her back at the house when the reaping was over. Neither Emma’s brother nor sister had ever had to put their names in the reaping more than once because their family provided everything they needed. However, the escort gave Johanna a haunting smile before calling out the name of Emma’s brother.

Emma was frantic. She couldn’t lose her brother so soon. Johanna tried to calm her, but was panicking as well. She was supposed to be this boy’s mentor. The boy she had grown to love at a brother. She finally got Emma to calm down by promising to bring him back alive.

Johanna couldn’t bring him back. There were more careers than usual and a small boy whose only weapon was words didn’t stand a chance.

When Johanna came back to District 7, her house was empty. She knew she had failed Emma and didn’t deserve her kindness anymore. Johanna became angry and knew she had to help take down the Capital somehow because the Capital had taken everyone she loved from her. She vowed from then on to not love anyone, and to convince the Capital that she didn’t love Emma, because the Capital would come after her again.

Her house was empty now and Johanna couldn’t stand it. She had had the rebellion to occupy her mind, but now she didn’t. She had to do something. It was dark outside, but she had to do something. After going over everything she had lost, her parents, Emma, Finnick…

Johanna went to the shed outside of her house and pulled out an axe and a sledge hammer. She marched to the fountain in the middle of the Victors’ Village. The sculpted tree in the middle of the fountain trickled water day and night. She hated that tree and thanks to Snow, she feared water. So Johanna hurled an axe at the fountain and buried the sharp wedge into the middle of the branches. Then she used the sledge hammer to hit the handle of the axe, cracking open the tree. She was careful not the let the water touch her as she destroyed the fountain. By the time she was done, there was no way to tell what the heap of rubble used to be. The exposed water hose that used to be in the bottom of the fountain froze over and the water stopped.

Johanna sat down by the small mountain of rocks and looked at her hands. Her knuckles were bleeding and there were scratched down her arms. She ignored them and stood up. She went into the house and fell asleep on the couch.

When she woke up, Johanna went out into the forest. She knew the forests of her district like the back of her hand. She knew the age of most of the trees by the look of them and could tell where she was by just a peripheral look around.

It wasn’t long before she stumbled up on a cabin. It wasn’t just any cabin. It was one that she had built with her own hands. It had become her hobby when she was alone. After she lost Emma, she started building the cabin to occupy her time. She needed something to do with her hands since her calm left her. She was angry and needed to saw and hammer. She needed to use her axe.

The cabin was almost done. It just needed about two weeks of work for it to be complete. Johanna tossed her axe up onto the awning over the porch and climbed onto the roof. She tapped her axe on the roof as she thought. It had become a habit. Tapping her axe on the floor of her bedroom until there was a line of marks in the wood. Tapping it on the ground in the yard behind her house until the grass had all been turned up. Tapping it in the sand of the last Games arena until the hole filled with water.

Johanna sighed heavily. She didn’t know what she would build since her cabin was done. Johanna hung her head and rested her forehead on her knees. She never really felt like much of a leader to the rebellion. She felt that in that respect, she had let Emma down again. She couldn’t even survive in the water long enough to make it into combat.

Johanna sat on the roof of the cabin for the entire day, trying to figure out what to do with her time. She felt like finishing the cabin would drive her crazy. The last nail in the coffin of her sanity.

One night she turned to liquor and broke into one of the empty Victor’s houses and trashed the inside with her axe. She buried her axe in anything it would destroy and fell asleep on the stairs when she couldn’t lift her arms anymore.

When she woke up, she returned to her house to change clothes. She was going to have to start paying someone to wash her clothes because she couldn’t even turn on a faucet without feeling like vomiting. As she was changing she saw the side of the bed to Emma used to sleep on. Then she saw the nightstand Emma used to keep books in. Johanna walked to the nightstand and opened the drawer. She found a single book there. It had collected enough dust that Johanna knew it had been years since it was touched.

Johanna sat on the bed and flipped through the book. This was one of Emma’s favorites. It was well worn and she could see Emma’s ink stained hands holding it delicately. Johanna looked out the window and saw the void where the fountain used to be. She knew she made a mess of the house next door. She was so destructive. She was tired of being destructive. She destroyed buildings and people. She helped destroy the oppressive government. She wanted to create. Even if Emma never spoke to her again, she wanted to create something Emma would be proud of. Johanna wanted to make something she could be proud of.

She spent the next day clearing out the rubble of the fountain. Then she covered up the hole that the fountain left the ground and leveled out the ground. She went to the outdoor market just as it was closing and made a few deals with some people. She overpaid for everything she bought, but she did it by choice.

When she woke up the next day, she took her tea outside and saw the lumber that she ordered stacked up neatly next to her house. There were cement and other supplies stacked in front of her house. The people in the market probably thought that she had finally gone mad, but she didn’t care. She was going to create something beautiful in the place that used to be a symbol of the Capital’s dominance.

For the next few weeks she built. When she woke up, she went to work until she couldn’t stand anymore. She fell asleep on the couch every night.

As the structure was starting to look more like a building, people would come by to look at it. Some of them asked her what it was, while others were just coming to see the loon of a Victor that had finally cracked.

The day came the Emma’s father stopped by. He watched her for a few minutes as she used the roofing of the vacant Victor’s houses to make the roof of her building. He didn’t say anything and it started to unnerve her. Finally he left, and Johanna focused on her work.

It took a little over four months of work, but Johanna finally finished. She used the wheelbarrow to cart a massive portion of the Games winnings to the publishing building. The owner came outside after her appearance with her own weight in coins caused a commotion. He straightened his coat and he approached her. “Can I help you, Ms. Mason?”

“I want books,” Johanna picked up three of the bags of coins on top and handed them to him. “Every book you can print. Ever book you weren’t able to print before. I want all the books.”

He cleared his throat and looked at the amount of coins in the wheelbarrow. “May I ask what you’re going to do with them?”

“I build a library,” Johanna told him gruffly, not used to dealing with people much anymore. “It needs books.”

He nodded to her, “That thing you built it in the Victors’ Village?”

It seemed that everyone knew about it by then. Everyone was talking about the crazy girl and the library. Johanna rolled her eyes. “Do you see an empty building anywhere else?”

He nodded. That was a fair question. He took a deep breath and nodded, “Okay. I’ll deliver the first batch to you tomorrow.”

Johanna nodded. She took the wheelbarrow with her back toward the market. She bought more lumber to finish the shelves and then made her way back to the Victors’ Village. She picked up the lumber and took it inside the library. As she walked through the space where a door was going to be, she heard a crack of thunder behind her. She knew that it was going to rain. The sky had been heralding it for days, but Johanna had been otherwise occupied. Now it was time for the rain.

Johanna moved everything she could into the library and then ran back to her house. She ran up the stairs and dove into her bed as the rain started to pour. She sobbed uncontrollably for hours until she finally cried herself to sleep.

In the morning it had stopped raining. There were still clouds in the sky that threatened rain. Johanna didn’t know what she was going to do. She decided to just take some and a canteen with her to the library and if she need to, she could stay the night there.

She walked into the library and started her work on the shelves. She even started a fire in the fireplace she had built into the library to heat it. Emma always loved sitting by the fire and reading so Johanna knew that she had to put that in.

It didn’t take long to finish the shelves. Sweat was dripping off of her by the time she finished. It was warm in the library and she had been working hard. She took off her jacket and stood in a tank top in front of the fire, watching it burn. The only thing missing in the library was furniture. After checking the sky, Johanna went to an empty Victor’s house and decided to take the couch and dining table.

As she was struggling to get the table out of the house, a man walked up to her. It was Emma’s father. He asked her if she needed help. After a brief struggle with speech Johanna nodded. They got to table out of the house and into the library together. They returned for the couch and coffee table.

After everything was moved in, Johanna shoved her hands into her pockets and kicked at the ground. She didn’t know what to say to the man whose son she led to his death.

“It’s a great thing you’ve done for Panem,” he told her. “They replay the last minutes of the Quarter Quell every once and a while to remind us of our heroes.”

“Yeah Katniss is a great hero,” Johanna added because she felt like she was supposed to say something.

“You are too,” he patted her back. “She risked your life to save her so she could lead us all to freedom.”

Johanna looked away from him. She wished that she could have save his son. She mumbled a thank you. He smiled and told her that he had to get home for dinner. He invited her over, and even though Johanna remembered that she hadn’t had a hot meal in months, she couldn’t face Emma or her mother or sister.

“I still have to…” Johanna looked around. Everything was pretty munch finished until the books arrived in the morning. She just shook her head, “I can’t.”

He nodded solemnly. He trapped her in a hug and she tensed immediately. She managed to clench her fists long enough not to have a flashback and accidentally try to kill him. He let go of her, having done what he came for. “I don’t blame you.”

Johanna licked her lips. She couldn’t say anything. She just shook her head and looked up at the sky, “It’s about to rain.”

He got her message and took off for home. Johanna ran back to her house and built a roaring fire. She went to the kitchen and thought about trying to make soup, but she could never do it as well as Emma or her father. It would just remind her about how much of a failure she felt like. So she ate some bread and crackers.

For the first time in a while she noticed letters on the ground by the front door as she returned to the couch. They were muddy because she had stepped on them on her way in. Johanna kicked off her boots and picked up the mail. She got some letters from Pultarch. There were a few from Peeta wondering how she was doing and asking if she needed anything. Apparently he had sent over the bread she was eating. Annie telling her that she had tried calling, but no one answered. That seemed to be the theme among the letters she was getting. They were worried because she didn’t answer her phone. She was never at home to answer it.

She would write them back later. Tonight she was going to fall asleep on the couch with the knowledge that some people cared for her. Pultrach probably just wanted her to do something for the new government, but she knew that Peeta probably actually cared. They had been tortured together. That pretty much bonded them for life. Annie was always kind when she wasn’t out of her mind. She was sure Katniss wondered about her, but she knew she wouldn’t hear from Katniss unless they ran into each other again. Johanna and Katniss were never good with words. The only words Johanna ever had were angry words. Now there was nothing to be angry at. There was just empty time and exhaustion.

In the morning, the books were delivered. Johanna helped put them on the shelves. She wasn’t sure how to order them so just stacked them on the table. The man who brought them told her it was traditional to put the books in alphabetical order by author’s name. She growled at his condescending tone. She hadn’t read a lot of books, but she had read some and she wasn’t an idiot. He quickly ran out of the library when she went for her axe that we resting in the corner.

Once the sign was up and the books were on the shelves, Johanna went back to her house. She spend almost an hour in the silence of her house before she made the trek out to her cabin. She was going to finally finish it. Maybe after she was done she would go see District 12. Maybe build a library there as well. Then perhaps to all the districts. She would build libraries until every place had a hub for knowledge. Then she would…wait to die.

She was putting in the railing on the porch when the sky opened up. The rain started to pour. Johanna built a fire and then laid on the floor of the cabin. She didn’t have any furniture so she got up and started to build some instead of listening to the rain, remembering the torture.

She was using a knife to whittle away at a bedpost when she heard footsteps on her porch. Immediately, Johanna stood up, grabbed her axe and moved to the door. There was a knock on the door before a soft voice called, “Johanna.”

Johanna swallowed. She was sure this was some kind of a trick. She was still in the games and someone was trying to lure her out. However, the voice felt too real. It radiated through her body until she had to open the door.

Emma was standing on the front porch. She was soaked all the way through her clothes. Her blonde hair was darker with the water, but her eyes were the same bright blue.

Johanna was dumbstruck. She finally managed to say, “It’s raining.”

“I noticed,” Emma grinned.

Johanna shook her head and stepped out of the way so that Emma could get inside and get warm. Johanna closed the door and set her axe by it. Emma walked to the bedframe and put her satchel down by the fireplace. “I came out here yesterday, but I guess you were still at the library.”

Johanna nodded. She moved to the bed. She stood on the bedframe and then crouched down. She wasn’t sure what to do. Emma just walked in like they had never been apart.

Emma noticed Johanna hesitance and moved over to her. “I’m sorry to just show up like this. I haven’t really known what to do since you came back.”

“I haven’t know what to do since I came back either,” Johanna looked at the floor.

Emma raised a dripping hand to Johanna’s face, to wipe off some soot. Just before her hand touched Johanna’s face, Johanna caught her wrist. She threw the hand away from her before frantically wiping the water off on her pants.

“Johanna, what’s wrong?” Emma asked immediately terrified. She wasn’t scared for herself, but for Johanna. She knew that manic look on Johanna’s face. She triggered something.

Johanna had tears in her eyes. “I can’t… water…they, um, the Capital tortured me for information. They used…water.”

Emma realized what she had done and immediately felt bad for it. Johanna’s whole body was shaking and she was scared that Emma was going to leave when she opened the door to the cabin. She was about to beg Emma not to leave again when Emma shed her shirt and pants. She was only in her undergarments as she wrung out her hair. Emma put her wet clothes on the porch and then closed the door. She was shivering as she walked to her satchel. Emma pulled out a blanket and wrapped it around herself. “I brought this for the bed I figured you were going to make, but I’ll bring you a new one tomorrow.” She bit her lip, worriedly. “I’m sorry. I should have asked before touching you.” She looked down at the floor then back at Johanna who was trembling a little less. “Is this better? There’s not much I can do about my hair.”

Johanna nodded and frowned, “You didn’t have to take your clothes off.”

“Well you’ve never complained before,” Emma added in hopes to lighten the mood.

Johanna let out a small smile and finally sat down completely instead of being ready to run.

Emma’s smile faded and looked into the fire. “I haven’t been fair to you.” Johanna was confused, but didn’t say anything because she knew that Emma would explain in her elegant way. “For so long, I blamed you for my brother’s death because you were accessible to me. I could see you and touch you. I could be terrible to you. But I knew it was Snow’s fault. He was trying to keep you in line when I was encouraging you to stand up for yourself. I wouldn’t have been able Snow using your body as a – a joyride anymore that you could.” Emma paused, “You and I both know that he took my brother in retribution.” Emma’s voice shook as she spoke and she turned to Johanna. “I’m sorry that I blamed you. I shouldn’t have. I knew it was wrong. I pushed away the one person that I needed the most.”

Johanna furrowed her eyebrows. Sometimes Emma spoke in long paragraphs and it took a moment to comprehend what she was saying, but this time she got everything in one go. Johanna swallowed. “It _was_ my fault.”

“It’s not your fault,” Emma shook her head. “I swear it.” She moved to the bed and knelt down in front of Johanna being careful not to touch her. “You did everything you could. And you don’t deserve anything that happened to you. You didn’t deserve to be put in the Hunger Games. You didn’t deserve to be in the Quart Quell. You didn’t deserve to be tortured.” Emma paused and held Johanna’s eyes. “You’re the bravest person I know. You knowingly went to the Quarter Quell with the intention of defying the Capital and getting Katniss out at all cost. You knew the risks and you knew you probably wouldn’t make it out alive. You did that for the people of Panem. You’re fearless.”

“I’m not,” Johanna shook her head, “I’m scared of everything. _Everything_.”

“But you still function,” Emma’s eyes began to water. “You still go outside every day and give our people the means to never be oppressed again. You’re still defying the Capital, taking their trophies of the Games and turning it into somewhere the people learn to fight back. You’re incredible and I don’t deserve to know you.”

Johanna swallowed hard. It was hard for her to fight back against Emma’s words. She never felt like she deserved Emma and she still didn’t. She didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as the damp angel standing in front of her.

Emma wanted to touch Johanna, but knew that she shouldn’t so she added again, “I’m sorry. I was terrible to you. I don’t want to be terrible anymore. I hope you can forgive me.”

Johanna nodded. She understood. She probably would have been a lot worse. She told Emma the same thing.

“I don’t know,” Emma smiled, “You’ve always been a lot smarter than me.”

Johanna scoffed, “Now you’re mocking me.”

Emma shook her head, “Absolutely not. I have books and I read them, but you know how to make things happen. I’ve dreamed of a library and you built one. I wished for a revolution and you started one. I wanted freedom and you gave it to me.”

Johanna took a deep breath. She was a doer. She wasn’t a planner. She liked action. So she went with her gut and slowly inched forward until her lips touched Emma’s. Emma sighed into the kiss, so thankful that on some level Johanna forgave her.

They spent the night catching up. Johanna lay in front of the fire with her hand in Emma’s lap recounting what happened to her since the 72nd Hunger Games. She told Emma everything, bringing Emma to tears many times. However she didn’t speak. She just stroked Johanna’s dirty hair and listened.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, my love,” Emma bent down and gently kissed Johanna’s forehead.

Johanna felt her heart get a little stronger with every affectionate word from Emma. She asked Emma if she was cold and offered to go look for some more wood for the fire.

“I can’t ask you to do that for me,” Emma stated, hearing the rain still pounding on the roof of the cabin.  

Johanna was a little relieved that Emma didn’t take her up on the offer. She was terrified to go out into the rain.

“I love you,” Emma told Johanna in the dying firelight.

Johanna looked up at Emma, “I love you too.”

Before the fire was about to fully die, Johanna got up and got her axe. She hacked apart the bedframe that she had made and threw parts of it into the fire to make it roar again.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Emma offered, standing up and wrapping the blanket around both of them. “That frame was beautiful.”

“I was going to have to redo the bed anyway,” Johanna smiled at Emma, pressing their foreheads together, “It’s wasn’t big enough for two.”

Emma smiled back and kissed Johanna. Johanna wrapped her arms around Emma and closed her eyes. She let out a content sigh. The Capital had taken so much from her, but it was good to know that no matter what the Capital destroyed, there was always enough left to rebuild.

In the months that followed, they took a portion of Johanna’s money and build libraries in each district. Emma organized the orders of books and talked to the government officials. They learned that she was better with people than Johanna was. They really felt like they were doing something great. Johanna even smiled when the little kids of the districts ran around the libraries. With the help of the people, they opened libraries in every district including the Capital. All the libraries were small, but crammed with books. The library in District 12 housed a few of Peeta’s paintings and the library in District 4 had a monument dedicated to Finnick and Mags. At the library in the Capital, there were portraits of everyone who ever died in the Hunger Games as a reminder of the terrible past of Panem, but also as a reminder that it was the past, and that people like Johanna and Emma were working toward a better future.


End file.
